Speakur

Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

whelk

/wɛlk/

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.90 in modern English

Syllables
whelk
IPA
/wɛlk/
15
Scrabble Score
5
Letters
1
Syllables
5
Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

Certain edible sea snails, especially, any one of numerous species of large marine gastropods belonging to Buccinidae, much used as food in Europe.

noun

Pimple.

Archaic

noun

A stripe or mark; a ridge; a wale.

Example Sentences

Etymology

From Middle English whelke, a variant of welk, from Old English weoloc, wiloc, wioloc, weluc, from Proto-West Germanic *weluk (compare Middle Dutch willoc, Dutch wulk), perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *welH- (“to turn, revolve”) (whence vulva and volute). Unetymological spelling with wh- from the 15th century.

Origin

Word Breakdown

  • Root: *welH-, whelke, weoloc, *weluk, hwelca

Usage

Inflected Forms

whelks (plural) welk (alternative) whilk (alternative) wilk (alternative, obsolete)

Derived Forms

whelker whelky

Phrases

Asian rapa whelk dog whelk knobbed whelk veined rapa whelk whelk stall chin whelk

Synonyms

sea cornet scungilli

Homonyms

welk

Rhymes With

milk elk welk kelk spelk yelk

Questions

How do you pronounce whelk?
The recorded pronunciation is /wɛlk/.
What does whelk mean?
Certain edible sea snails, especially, any one of numerous species of large marine gastropods belonging to Buccinidae, much used as food in Europe.
Where does whelk come from?
It is traced to Middle English.

How to pronounce whelk

  1. Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “whelk”.
  2. Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/wɛlk/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
  3. Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “whelk”.
  4. Repeat and practice — Say “whelk” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.